Much as HTC did last year with the HTC One, it appears that its latest flagship smartphone, the HTC One (M8), will soon be flanked by additional devices. There have already been rumours of a cheaper variant of the HTC One (M8) to be clad in plastic instead of a unibody aluminium body. Now known as the HTC M8 Ace according to the reliable @evleaks, he tweeted today that there will also be an HTC M8 mini, something we heard as far back as January.
The M8 mini could launch as the HTC One mini 2. There are no details to go along with the rather cumbersome name but it does work better than HTC One (M8) mini would.
M8 mini = HTC One mini 2 [comments: http://t.co/XvFgRppiFI]
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) May 1, 2014
If history repeats itself, HTC will downgrade key specifications such as the display and processor in order to drive the price down as well to deliver a more compact version of the HTC One (M8). In fact, that’s exactly what older rumours have suggested. A 1.4GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400, a 4.5-inch HD (720×1280), 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot, a 13MP rear camera and a 5MP front camera were mentioned in the past. Other rumours also gave us an alleged glimpse at this device.
As for the HTC M8 Ace, it is rumoured to sport “almost identical specs as the Galaxy S5, including a 5-inch 1080p display plus a 2.5GHz, quad-core Snapdragon 801 SoC.”
An HTC One Prime also appears to be in the works:
Forget the Ace. What y'all are really waiting for is codenamed M8 Prime. [comments: http://t.co/XvFgRppiFI]
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) April 29, 2014
Could this be the new HTC One Max or is HTC looking to follow in Samsung’s rumoured footsteps and offer a premium version of the HTC One (M8), perhaps with a WQHD display?
There is no word yet on availability and pricing for the HTC One mini 2 or the other devices HTC may have up its sleeve.